IndyCar: McLaughlin leads Penske 1-2 in Bommarito 500 Quals

Scott McLaughlin nipped race favorite Josef Newgarden to give Team Penske an easy 1-2 in qualifying for the Bommarito 500 at WWTR.

The Penske cars are so dominant here, they will win easily unless they strike trouble.

McLaughlin will start 10th because of an engine change that resulted in a 9-place grid penalty.

Colton Herta was the best for Andretti Autosport, qualifying his #27 Honda in third 0.27s behind.

#5 Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and championship point leader Alex Palou rounded out the top-5 in his #10 Ganassi Honda.

AR1 spoke with several drivers after their qualifying run to see how they felt about the new alternative tire for this race.  Most drivers do not favor this new compound and think it is not that much faster but degrades too quickly.

We are still determining how they will strategize when to use the alternative during the race, in which they must run two laps on the one set they have.

Palou Gets Penalty

INDYCAR officials have announced a nine-position starting grid penalty for the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing entry for an unapproved engine change following practice, yesterday, at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The team was in violation of:

Rule 16.2.3.2 A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.

According to Rule 16.6.1.2, the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, today, at WWT Raceway.

Qualifying Results